Granville Automatic, The TVD First Date

“My first vinyl was The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of Disney’s Haunted House. I was obsessed almost more with the cover art—it was blue and black and creepy and absolutely fascinating.”

“It may explain my early years as a goth devotee—I heard bits of that very first vinyl in Danzig and The Damned and The Church, and even in Morrissey, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Curve, and Concrete Blonde. I got into those bands a bit backwards, as a radio DJ for Jacksonville State University’s WLJS just as Nirvana exploded into the mainstream.

Those sounds still shape everything I do as a songwriter. Though I grew up surrounded by my dad’s folk records (Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins were commonly spinning), once I found rock and roll I moved quickly in that direction, playing all kinds of obscure college bands from a tiny Alabama DJ booth.

At the same time, I worked at a record store across the street from Fort McClellan. The owner recognized I was obsessed with, and starting to write, songs. I remember getting to work one Saturday and he approached me with a record. It was Jeff Buckley’s Live at Sin-e. He said, “Nobody knows who this kid is, but I know you will love him. This will change you.”

Buckley was the bridge between punk and classic songwriter to me. He explained how The Ramones and Leonard Cohen weren’t all that different, and that I could love Black Flag and Paul Simon. He was the connector, and I was fortunate to see him live a few times before he drowned.

For me, vinyl will always be those two things—a fascinating painting full of ghosts and darkness, and a magical, soaring, transcendent voice that floats between heaven and hell.”
—Elizabeth Elkins

Granville Automatic’s full length release, Radio Hymns arrives in stores on Friday, November 2.